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Methods and Methodologies in Fiqh and Islamic Economics

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Methods and Methodologies in Fiqh and Islamic Economics Methods and Methodologies in Fiqh and Islamic Economics Dr. Muhammad Yusuf Saleem Department of Economics Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia [email protected]; [email protected] Abstract. This paper intends to examine the methods of reasoning that are employed in Fiqh and critically discuss their adoption in Islamic economics. The paper argues that the methods used in Fiqh are mainly designed to find out whether or not a certain act is permissible or prohibited. Islamic economics, on the other hand, is a social science. Like any other social science its proper unit of analysis is the society itself. Methodologies of Fiqh and Islamic economics also differ as the former focuses on prescriptions. It prescribes what an individual should do or avoid. In contrast, Islamic economics is more concerned with describing economic phenomena. While Fiqh, especially worship (Ibadat) type, prescriptions are permanent in nature and for all individuals, economic descriptions may change from time to time and from society to another. This paper argues that the methods of reasoning for discovering the truth in fiqh and Islamic economics are not necessarily identical. While fiqh has a well developed methodology in the form of usul al-fiqh, Islamic economics in its search for finding the truth should rely on a methodology that suits its social and descriptive nature. Introduction This paper begins with a discussion on methods and methodologies. It explains how the adoption of different standards for the acceptability of certain evidence can lead to differences in approaches and methodologies. It also discusses that various disciplines have different units of analysis or objects of inquiries. This calls for different methods of reasoning. The paper examines the legal methods of reasoning in Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) and discusses their application to group-related issues and economics. It next argues that Islamic economics should rely on a methodology and methods of reasoning that would best suit its social and descriptive nature. A Methodological Discourse A method is defined as a systematic arrangement and order of thoughts. It refers to a certain structure of reasoning such as induction or deduction or research techniques or tools used to gather data such as observation, case studies, or surveys. A method is a mode, a procedure or a way of investigation according to a defined and regular plan. It teaches us how to arrange thoughts, propositions, and arguments for the investigation or exposition of a truth. A methodology, on the other hand, is the philosophy of a research. It determines the approach taken by a researcher towards understanding certain phenomena. It also sets standards for the acceptability of evidence and determines the role of reason in the investigation. Methodology as a science deals with the methods and 285 their application in a particular field. It is concerned with the suitability of the methods and techniques of reasoning employed in a certain investigation.(1) Reason alone is not an independent source of knowledge. One of its great weaknesses is its subjectivity. A methodology by providing standards for the acceptability of evidence and a set of methods releases reason from subjectivity and personal inclinations. This results to some extent in objectivity and predictability. Scholars and researchers in a certain field who use the same methodology would come to similar conclusion on a certain issue. The adoption of different standards for the acceptability of evidence can result in differences on methodologies and may influence the choice of methods. The main difference between Islamic and secular methodologies lies in their recognition of certain evidences. While the former accords supremacy to revelation and accepts it as a source of knowledge; the latter recognises empiricism as supreme. While Islamic methodology recognises a limited role for empiricism, secular methodology totally denies the role of revelation in discovering and explaining the truth. A researcher’s choice of methods and methodology may also be influenced by the basic unit of analysis in a certain research. Disciplines differ from each other in their basic units of analysis. A unit of analysis means whether a certain research problem calls for the study of the physical nature, legal rules, behaviours, an individual or a group. The type of units of analysis can subsequently influence the choice of methods, and the formulation of research problem. For instance, the physical nature consists of objects that have no volition of their own and cannot make choices. They are governed by certain preordained laws. The role of human reason is to discover these laws through observation, experimentation, induction, deduction and other scientific methods which are mostly aimed to produce descriptive analyses. In contrast, humans are different from the objects in the physical nature. They have been given a limited free will and can make their own preferred choices. Humans are also subject to rules and regulations. These rules and regulations about human conduct fall within the realm of laws. These laws are either man-made or of divine origin. While man-made law is derived from customs and conventions or made by a legislature, Islamic law (fiqh) has its own unique sources based on revelation. The role of human reason is to extend the normative statements given in the Quran and the Sunnah to new cases through the process of ijtihad. The legal methodology adopted for this purpose is different from the scientific methodology. In legal methodology the role of reason is to extend the law prescribed for humans to new cases, while in scientific methodology the role of reason is to discover the laws ordained for the nature through observation and experience. The methods of reasoning adopted for the study of human nature and behaviour could be different from the methods of reasoning in physical sciences. Human nature is also different from other physical phenomena. Physical phenomena are consistently subject to the rules of physical sciences. In contrast human nature can be (1) See The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991). See also Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridged, 2nd ed. (new York: Prentice Hall Press, 1983); Oxford English Dictionary of Historical Principles, 5th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). 286 changed by education, family upbringing, economic, and social factors or controlled by self restraint.(2) A human group or collectivity is a totally different unit of analysis. Human groups or collectivities are not subject to the laws that govern nature. The law of the nature once discovered is consistently applicable to a certain physical phenomena. A group comprises many individual members with diversified and various choices and preferences. This results in the existence of numerous variables which militates against consistency. Similarly, a group should not be treated like an individual. An individual is held responsible for his actions and omissions. He is therefore the only proper subject for the enforcement of the law. For instance, an individual could be prosecuted for offences, or sued for civil liabilities. In contrast responsibility cannot be assigned to a group collectively neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. Human groups and societies cannot be prosecuted as a group in a court of law, imprisoned, punished, or declared bankrupt collectively. The commands and prohibitions addressed to an individual are meant to be permanent. In contrast, group-related decisions are not about command and prohibitions. They are temporary decisions which may differ from a society to a another, from a situation to another, and from time to time. A human group or collectivity is the proper subject of research for the social sciences. Fiqh as a Legal System Literally, fiqh means to understand and to have the knowledge of something. Technically fiqh is the knowledge of the derived practical legal rules as acquired from their particular sources.(3) During the time of the Prophet (pbuh), the term fiqh was not applied in the legal sense alone but carried a wider meaning covering the whole of religion. For instance the Quran states: “That they may gain understanding (liyatafaqqaho) of the religion” (9: 122). The Prophet is also reported to have blessed Ibn Abas saying: “O God give him understanding (Faqqihho) in religion”. Both, the Quranic verse and the Hadith mean a deeper understanding of the religion and not only knowledge of the legal rules. However, later the science of fiqh got a more specialised meaning, which became synonymous with law and legal matters. Thus, fiqh as understood today includes various branches of legal rules on transactions, family matters, offences, and matters related to worship (‘ibadat). Both the Quran and the Sunnah provide normative statements on what an individual Muslim ought to do or avoid. These detailed rules and regulations about an individual’s conduct and his rights, and obligations form the subject matter of fiqh. The basic units of analysis in the discipline of fiqh are the normative statements of the Quran and the Hadith on human conduct and his rights and obligations. Subsequently, the early jurists focused on those rulings of the Quran and Sunnah that concerned with the actions, rights, and obligations of an individual Muslim. The verses of the Quran that contained these rulings were termed as ayaat al-ahkam. A Shari’ah ruling (hukm Shar’i) was (2) The fact that so many Quranic verses and ahadith refer to the subject of akhlaq shows that human nature can be changed and controlled. The Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have stated that he has been sent to complete the most beautiful akhlaq. (3) See Subhi Mahmasani, The Philosophy of Jurisprudence in Islam, translated by Farhat J. Zaideh (Kuala Lumpur: The Open Press, 2000) p. 8. 287 defined as a communication from the Lawgiver concerning the conduct of the mukallaf which consists of a demand, an option or an enactment.(4) A mukallaf refers to an individual who is in full possession of his faculties.
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